Shredder head having shredder blades and an associated safety feature for protecting a portion of a person's body

Abstract

A shredder having a safety feature(s) that reduces potential safety hazards by detecting the touch of a portion of a person's body.

1. A shredder head having shredder blades and an associated safety feature for protecting a portion of a person's body, comprising:
 a shredder head housing having an outside surface and defining a slot adapted to receive material to be shredded, the shredder head housing including a portion that forms opposing walls to define sides of the slot; 
 a plurality of shredder blades disposed within the shredder head housing and adapted to shred the material inserted into the slot; 
 a first conductive layer disposed proximate the slot; 
 a second conductive layer disposed proximate the slot and separated from the first conductive layer, wherein the first and second conductive layers are located within the slot such that the portion of the person's body can touch any portion of the outside surface of the shredder housing without contacting either of the first and second conductive layers; 
 a controller in communication with the shredder and adapted to cause the plurality of shredder blades to deactivate and in communication with at least one of the first and second conductive layers and with the first controller, the controller is adapted to discriminate between contact with the portion of the person's body and metallic and magnetic objects, wherein when the portion of the person's body touches both the first and second conductive layers the controller is configured to deactivate the plurality of shredder blades, wherein the shredder is configured such that the plurality of shredder blades are not deactivated when only one of the first and second conductive layers is touched by a portion of the person's body. 
 
     
     
       2. The shredder of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is an integrated circuit in communication with the first conductive layer, the second conductive layer having first and second electrical pathways each leading to a ground, the first electrical pathway including a resistor and the second electrical pathway including a capacitor. 
     
     
       3. The shredder head of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to stop the activation of the plurality of shredder blades until the portion of the person's body stops contacting both the first and second conductive layers. 
     
     
       4. The shredder head of  claim 1 , further comprising a warning light disposed on an outer surface of the shredder head housing, the controller activating the warning light while the portion of the person's body is touching both of the first and second conductive layers. 
     
     
       5. The shredder head of  claim 4 , further comprising a speaker electrically connected to the controller, wherein the controller activates the speaker to emit a warning sound when the portion of a person's body touches both of the first and second conductive layers. 
     
     
       6. The shredder head of  claim 4 , wherein the warning light is formed by multiple light emitting diodes each emitting a different color of light. 
     
     
       7. The shredder head of  claim 6 , wherein the multiple light emitting diodes cause the warning light to emit a generally yellow light when activated. 
     
     
       8. The shredder head of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to turn off the shredder head if the portion of the person's body touches the first and second conductive layers for a predetermined amount of time. 
     
     
       9. The shredder head of  claim 8 , wherein the predetermined amount of time is less than or equal to three seconds. 
     
     
       10. The shredder head of  claim 1 , wherein the first and second conductive layers are located proximate a distal end of the opposing walls located farthest from an outer surface of the shredder head housing. 
     
     
       11. The shredder head of  claim 1 , wherein the first and second conductive layers are located proximate an end of the opposing walls proximate to an outer surface of the shredder head housing. 
     
     
       12. A method of shredding material while reducing the probability of injury to a portion of a person's body, comprising:
 providing a shredder comprising:
 a shredder head housing defining a slot adapted to receive material to be shredded, the shredder head housing including a portion that forms sides of opposing walls defining the slot; 
 a plurality of shredder blades disposed within the shredder head housing and adapted to shred the material inserted into the slot; 
 a first conductive layer disposed proximate the slot; 
 a second conductive layer disposed proximate the slot and separated from the first conductive layer; 
 
 monitoring at least one of the first and second conductive layers to determine when the portion of the person's body touches both the first and second conductive layers; 
 stopping the activation of the plurality of shredder blades while the first and second conductive layers are both contacted by the portion of the person's body, wherein the shredder is configured such that the plurality of shredder blades are not deactivated when only one of the first and second conductive layers is touched by a portion of the person's body. 
 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 12 , wherein the step of monitoring includes providing a first controller in communication with the shredder and adapted to cause the plurality of shredder blades to deactivate; and providing a second controller in communication with the first and second conductive layers and with the first controller. 
     
     
       14. The method of clam  12 , further comprising turning off the power to the shredder if the first and second conductive layers are both contacted by the portion of the person's body for a predetermined period of time. 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 14 , wherein the step of providing the shredder further comprises the first and second conductive layers being proximate to ends of the opposing walls that are farthest from an outer surface of the shredder head housing to reduce the probability of the plurality of shredder blades being disengaged due to the brief contact between a portion of a person's body and the outer surface of the shredder head housing while feeding material into the shredder. 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 15 , wherein the step of stopping further includes providing a controller that detects a change in voltage due to a capacitance change in circuitry resulting from the capacitance of the portion of the person's body while the first and second conductive layers are both contacted by the portion of the person's body. 
     
     
       17. A method of shredding material while reducing the probability of injury to a portion of a person's body, comprising:
 providing a shredder comprising:
 a shredder head housing defining a slot adapted to receive material to be shredded, the shredder head housing including a portion that forms opposing walls to define sides of the slot; 
 a plurality of shredder blades disposed within the shredder head housing and adapted to shred the material inserted into the slot; 
 a first conductive layer disposed on the shredder head housing; 
 a second conductive layer disposed on the shredder head housing; 
 at least one controller in communication with the first conductive layer, the at least one controller is configured to detect a change in voltage due to a capacitance change resulting from the capacitance of the portion of the person's body while the first and second conductive layers are both contacted thereby; 
 
 monitoring the first and second conductive layers to determine when the portion of the person's body touches the first and second conductive layers; 
 stopping the activation of the plurality of shredder blades while the first and second conductive layers are both contacted by the portion of the person's body, wherein the shredder is configured such that the plurality of shredder blades are not deactivated when only one of the first and second conductive layers is touched by a portion of the person's body; 
 activating a warning light while the first and second conductive layers are both contacted by the portion of the person's body; 
 emitting a warning sound while the first and second conductive layers are both contacted by the portion of the person's body. 
 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 17 , wherein the step of monitoring includes providing a first controller in communication with the shredder and adapted to cause the plurality of shredder blades to deactivate; and providing a second controller in communication with the first and second conductive layers and with the first controller. 
     
     
       19. The method of clam  17 , further comprising turning off the power to the shredder if the first and second conductive layers are both contacted by the portion of the person's body for a predetermined period of time. 
     
     
       20. The method of  claim 18 , wherein the step of providing the shredder further comprises the first and second conductive layers being proximate to ends of the opposing walls that are farthest from an outer surface of the shredder head housing to reduce the probability of the plurality of shredder blades being disengaged due to the brief contact between a portion of a person's body and the outer surface while feeding material into the shredder. 
     
     
       21. A shredder head having shredder blades and an associated safety feature for protecting a portion of a person's body, comprising:
 a shredder head housing defining a slot adapted to receive material to be shredded, the shredder head housing including a portion that extends generally inwardly from an outer surface of the shredder head housing to form opposing walls to define sides of the slot, the opposing walls each having a distal end located opposite from the outer surface; 
 a plurality of shredder blades disposed within the shredder head housing and adapted to shred the material inserted into the slot; 
 a first conductive layer disposed on the shredder head housing; 
 a second conductive layer disposed on the shredder head housing; 
 a controller in communication with the shredder and adapted to cause the plurality of shredder blades to deactivate while the portion of the person's body touches both the first and second conductive layers, wherein the shredder is configured such that the plurality of shredder blades are not deactivated when only one of the first and second conductive layers is touched by a portion of the person's body. 
 
     
     
       22. A method of shredding material while reducing the probability of injury to a portion of a person's body, comprising:
 providing a shredder comprising:
 a shredder head housing including a portion that extends generally inwardly from an outer surface of the shredder head housing to form opposing walls to define sides of a slot, the opposing walls each having a distal end located opposite from the outer surface; 
 a plurality of shredder blades disposed within the shredder head housing and adapted to shred the material inserted into the slot; 
 a first conductive layer disposed along at least a portion of the opposing walls proximate to the distal end thereof; 
 a second conductive layer disposed along at least a portion of the opposing walls proximate to the distal end thereof, the second conductive layer being separated from the first conductive layer; 
 
 monitoring at least one of the first and second conductive layers to determine when the portion of the person's body is inserted into the slot far enough to touch both the first and second conductive layers; and 
 stopping the activation of the plurality of shredder blades while the first and second conductive layers are both contacted by the portion of the person's body, wherein the shredder is configured such that the plurality of shredder blades are not deactivated when only one of the first and second conductive layers is touched by a portion of the person's body. 
 
     
     
       23. The method of  claim 22 , further comprising:
 activating a warning light while the first and second conductive layers are both contacted by the portion of the person's body; and 
 emitting a warning sound while the first and second conductive layers are both contacted by the portion of the person's body. 
 
     
     
       24. The method of  claim 22 , wherein the step of providing a shredder further comprises providing a first controller in communication with the shredder and adapted to cause the plurality of shredder blades to deactivate; and a second controller in communication with at least one of the first and second conductive layers and with the first controller, wherein when the portion of the person's body touches both the first and second conductive layers the second controller sends a signal to the first controller, when the first controller receives the signal the first controller stops the activation of the plurality of shredder blades. 
     
     
       25. The method of  claim 24 , wherein the step of providing a shredder further comprises the second controller being an integrated circuit in communication with the first conductive layer, the second conductive layer having first and second electrical pathways leading to two separate grounds, the first electrical pathway including a resistor and the second electrical pathway including a capacitor.